Although the antics are amped up in The Hangover: Part II, star Bradley Cooper admits shooting the anticipated comedy was at least easier than the first.

“There’s a certain amount of ease in knowing the character — having all this history,” said Cooper recently in Toronto. “There was a lot less preparation because the preparation was already (in doing) a movie. That’s a hell of a lot of rehearsal time to have another movie under your belt.”

With the 2009 surprise hit earning a stunning $467 million US worldwide, there will be a lot of eyes on Part II and the comedy’s unfolding plot about a bachelor party gone wrong. This time, Cooper and company travel to Bangkok, Thailand and have to uncover the events that led to a face tattoo, the disappearance of the bride’s 16-year-old brother and a mysterious drug-dealing monkey.

“The stakes are so high in this movie. It gets darker and because of that the three of us have to go to places making it believable but you have to deal with these crazy circumstances,” Cooper said.

He explained that the movie’s secret is in the camaraderie with co-stars Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms.

“It’s the reason I would do seven of these movies … it was just really wonderful to see what would come out of that — things that weren’t in the script,” he said.

For The Hangover: Part II, the writing doesn’t end on the page either as Cooper and company have been credited for bringing some of the biggest laughs while improvising during the shoot.

“Comedy has to happen fast,” insisted Cooper. “It’s like music and especially when the three of us are working, it’s nice — you really get in the groove, everybody’s in the right gear and it just starts flowing.”